Amazon Prime Music Streaming Service Allegedly Coming Soon… With A Catch

One of the reasons I love using Spotify and Google Play Music is because every Tuesday I get to browse the new album releases on each platform. It’s also easy to quickly listen to the top new albums and songs that are popular around the country. A report on Friday suggests that Amazon is indeed about to launch a streaming music service for its Prime members, though with one huge caveat: you won’t be able to listen to brand new tunes.

According to BuzzFeed, the Amazon Prime music service will launch with a large library of tunes, though it won’t include any music that has been released within the last six months. The news outlet said that Warner Music and Sony are on board to provide Amazon with music content, though it’s unclear if Universal is also working with the online retailer. As of right now, the goal is for Amazon to launch its Prime Music service either next month or in July.

There are a few similarities to Spotify and other services, however. BuzzFeed said users will be able to cache music for offline playback, a feature that’s necessary for folks who spend a lot of time without a data connection, like on subways. Apparently its library won’t be as sprawling as competitors, and not only because of the 6-month age limit on music. BuzzFeed said Amazon will make music available depending on how popular it is — so it might be hard to find more obscure stuff. The good news is it sounds like the service will be available across multiple platforms, and likely easily accessible on Kindle devices and the Fire TV.

For Amazon Prime subscribers, the music service will offer yet another reason to continue paying the Amazon Prime membership fee. Amazon raised the cost this year, but it’s continuing to make the offering even more valuable.